Pages

Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Papaya Boat with Coconut, Tahini, Banana Chia Cream

Isn't it a little odd how I can get my hands on such juicy tropical fruit, smack bang in the middle of Melbournian winter? I'm always taking a whole container filled with melons and mangoes and paw paws to school. It's a little funny how our fridge is literally overflowing with bargains that we hunted down at the local fruit and veggie shop. Dragon fruits, mangoes, persimmons, papayas, watermelon, star fruit, every fruit you can find on a tropical island is bound to be in our fridge at some point in the week. The trick is to really get you know your fruit and veggie shop properly. What time do they close? That's usually when they put the prices down. Do they have a discount trolley? Many people think that discount trolleys are mainly filled with rotten stuff that no-one wants to buy. However mum and I have realised that the fruits and veggies that you find in the discount box, or in the discount trolley are quite perfect. Buying fruit and veggies from the local green grocers is also a whole lot cheaper that buying from your average supermarket. Take my word.

Today I made a mini coconut, tahini chia cream, papaya boat topped with goji berries and pepitas. I was inspired by a papaya coconut tahini smoothie that my friend made for me, but I just love eating papayas straight from their skin and I also wanted to make a vegan reprise. The papaya tends to lose it's flavour when you put it in a smoothie, unless of course you add a heap of sugar to it, which I definitely didn't want to do.

The coconut milk, dates and tahini actually go really well together, the banana brings it all together and the chia seeds simply added texture.

Ingredients:

3 tbs coconut milk

3 tsp chia seeds

3 tbs water

3 tablespoons shredded coconut

1/2 a small small banana

1 medjool date

1 tbs organic tahini

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Methods

1. place chia seeds in the water, and let rest for 10 minutes

2. place the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture becomes smooth

3. add in the chia seeds and pulse until combined

4. spoon the seeds out of the papaya and spoon the cream into the crevice